Just a Few Stairs on Our Hike!

Friday, August 5, 2011

I am going to try to allow more time for my blogging this month! It is as important to me spiritually as my prayer time as it is a time where I can reflect on the happenings in my life! It has been so refreshing taking on this new role in my company. I feel like I am blessed in more than one way in that situation. Of course the obvious blessing is that I am able to provide financially in a way that my family needs. But the situation is so much more than I ever could have imagined! The patient that I am caring for (and getting to know) has proved quickly to be an extreme blessing to just be around! Those monthly 30 minute visits do not allow for true connection and it took this new role for me to realize that by simply “managing” cases for so very long, I overlooked the reward that these nurses working the cases had the opportunity to experience if they only took the time to do so. I know the nursing side of this care but in three short days I am learning the therapy side that correlates with this type of circumstance.

The family that I am blessed to spend my time with is an amazing one! The love that they share for one another is evident constantly and the faith that they have in this child’s recovery is the greatest that I have ever seen! And more often than not during the course of my “work day” we talk about God and what Jesus did for us. This brings to my mind a very important thing that we learn from His word, in the book of Matthew.

“For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.” Matthew 18:20

I can absolutely feel God’s presence from the moment I walk through that door in the morning! I can visibly see the great strides that this patient has come through just by looking at him but the opportunity to see the faith and love that surrounds him daily is indescribable!

Monday, August 1, 2011

I have had some answered prayers! I have struggled for months trying to decide the career path to take. I did everything in my control, applied for jobs, went for interviews, made the follow up calls, etc. But it seemed that nothing ever panned out or if it did then there were some factors that made me immediately realize that they were not the best choice for my family, or for me. I know, I know, with this economy, I should be anything but picky but the well-being of my family comes well before a job. The factors that I was looking at constantly were 1. The new job would not affect my church time 2. The new job would not affect my family time and 3. I would be home at night to tuck the kids in the bed and there in the morning when they got up (so night shift was OUT). After dozens of applications, a few interviews and a couple of offers that I turned down because they just didn’t feel right I was finally at appoint where I knew the only one that could handle this was God! I turned it over to Him; I basically lost it while I was praying in the car and cried so fiercely that I could barely breathe as I asked God to, “please take over this because I knew that only He was the one that could lead me in the right direction.” By the time I reached cell service, only about 15 minutes after I spoke that prayer, it was very clear to me what the next step was for me. I had a conversation with my direct supervisor and quickly we made the decision together that I could step into the open shift of one of our cases. A case that I had “managed” for the last almost three years, I was going to have the chance to act as the full time private duty nurse for. Of course along with the decision to take that step out of the management role that I held came adjunct with a pretty significant pay decrease. I just know it is the “right” move though! I know that God opened my eyes to a position that was right in front of me and helped me realize that is where I am to be.

“He answered their prayers because they trusted in Him” 1 Chronicles 5:20

My last “official” act in the management role was to conduct a class for our Roanoke office. Initially I was going to make the two plus hour drive back and forth for the two day class but after this morning, a trip including fog so thick that I could barely see a few feet in front of me, I decided to stay the night. It is so lonely in this hotel room that it almost physically hurts and all I can do is imagine the smiling faces of the kids and the warmth of Steven’s arm resting under my neck as I sleep. Once this trip is complete I will start my new position with the company. I will get off an hour earlier each day which gives me five extra hours a week to dedicate to my family! I will not be driving crazy amounts of miles each week as I will only have to travel about 7 miles from my house each day! There are, of course, a few kinks that will have to be worked out. I made the decision to take a pay cut only weeks before my student loan payments will start. But I am confident that God will provide!

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1 Timothy 6:17